Welcome to IEEF

The Institute for Energy and Environmental Flows (IEEF) is a physical sciences research institute at the University of Cambridge. Our interdisciplinary team includes academics, post-docs, PhD students, MPhil and Part III students from across university departments including Earth Sciences, Chemistry, Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, Engineering, and Chemical Engineering.

Research

Research at IEEF spans a diverse range of topics, united by a shared motivation: to address real-world challenges and fundamental scientific knowledge gaps through rigorous academic enquiry.

We host a wide range of researchers at the institute, from undergraduate students to highly established professors, in a friendly atmosphere that fosters conversation and collaboration. We offer annual fully-funded PhD scholarships and are always interested to hear from researchers who would like to join us or to learn from us. If you are interested in working or studying at IEEF, please see our list of available roles and projects and contact us.

Recent Publications

Fluid Mechanics for Green Buildings

Decarbonisation of buildings is one of the main challenges for the energy transition. In particular, …

Effects of permeability perturbations in porous media flow

One of the challenges with modelling subsurface flows is the uncertainty in measurements of geological …

Plumes of settling and dissolving particles

In small rocky planets, the interplay between pressure and temperature profiles may cause the iron-rich …

Latest News

Two new PhD opportunities available, apply now

Two new PhD opportunities are being advertised to work on data centres cooling and particle dispersal in the atmosphere. Please see the details below.

2025 Energy Masterclass

The Cambridge Energy Masterclass was a two-day intensive meeting of lectures and discussions, with talks from leading experts in various aspects of energy demand …

PhD student’s video shortlisted in international competition

PhD student Poorya Shaghaghi recently took part in the 2025 International Video Challenge developed by the journal Buildings & Cities and the Academy for …

Recent Seminars

Multiphase flows in volcanic systems

This week’s scheduled speaker, Angus Fotherby, was unwell and could not give the first seminar of the new year. We wish him a …

High-performance materials for hydrogen production

Investigating exsolution of metal nanoparticles is an area of evolving interest. Metal nanoparticles have been found to exsolve from metal oxides in the perovskite …

Decoupling strategies in electrochemical water splitting

The storage of renewably-generated energy as hydrogen via the electrolysis of water is a fundamental cornerstone of a sustainable hydrogen economy. Conventional electrolysers …